Page 85 - All About History 48 - 2017 UK

Roman Mystery Cults

Villa

of the

Mysteries

Buried for centuries
in ash, the Villa of the
Mysteries in Pompeii
is a window on to the
mystery worship of
ancient times
The mystery cult of Bacchus (Dionysus)
found great favour in Rome and
elsewhere in Italy. However, rare is
the case where we can see how the
mysteries of his cult, or that of any other
god, for that matter, were celebrated
by adherents. We are fortunate then to
have the Villa of the Mysteries, a home
that was preserved from the ravages
of time, ironically, by the ravages of the
volcanic eruption of Mount Vesuvius.
In 79 CE, the nearby southern Italian
town of Pompeii was buried completely
by volcanic ash, and forgotten. It lay
undisturbed until its rediscovery in the
18th century.
Within the villa is a room with
painted friezes along its walls that
depict the mystery worship of Bacchus
in glorious colour and remarkable detail.
These are arguably the most famous
paintings of the Roman world still in
existence. Running for about 20 metres
around the room, the friezes show a
ThisfrescofromtheVillaoftheMysteriesprobablyshowsa number of individual figures at roughly
BacchusMysteryinitiationritualwiththegodsSilenusandPan human size of gods, men, women and
mythological beings engaged in the
cultic worship of Bacchus.
Interpreting the scenes is difficult,
as much of their context has been lost.
A damaged painting of Bacchus and his
consort, Ariadne, would have been the
first to be viewed when entering the
room. In one scene, a plump Silenus
plays a lyre; in another, a youthful Pan
plays his flute. In one, a woman rests
her head on the lap of another while a
winged woman strikes her with a rod.
Next to them both dances a woman
with cymbals. It is most likely that the
friezes inside the room depicted the
initiation of a young woman in to the
cult of Bacchus.

© Alamy, Getty Images, Thinkstock

ThisfriezeintheVillaoftheMysteriesisoneofthebest Rumours of sexual abuse and
preservationsofRomanartworkanywhereintheworld murder saw the Bacchus Mystery
outlawed for a time
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